Andy Lopez's family attends community event

Andy Lopez's family attended a community event held to remember the 13-year-old who was shot and killed by a Sonoma deputy.

November 3, 2013 11:47:50 AM PST

by Sergio Quintana

SANTA ROSA, Calif. --

Friends and family of a Santa Rosa teenager who was shot and killed by a Sonoma County Sheriff's deputy gathered Saturday to thank the community for its support.

Andy Lopez was shot Oct. 22 while holding an air-soft rifle that looked like an AK-47 assault rifle.

As candles were arranged and a cross was adjusted at the growing memorial to 13-year-old, it was not lost on a few people that this weekend marks Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

"It's Mexican tradition to, every first and second of November, to come and celebrate the dead or your loved ones that have passed away," neighbor Alma Chavez said.

Andy Lopez's parents were there for a couple of hours, but they left just before sunset. They did not want to speak on camera, but they did say they will be in San Francisco on Monday for a big announcement.

Rodrigo Lopez and Sujey Cruz Casares will be joining their team of attorneys Monday to announce a federal civil lawsuit against the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department. They joined about 100 people for a potluck dinner.

Organizers say they had no intention of connecting Andy's death to Dia de los Muertos. They just wanted to support the Lopez family.

"Everybody just wants to be here, remembering Andy," event organizer Anabel Davalos said. "That's all it is for, we don't want to talk about what happened to Andy or anything like that, we just want to remember him."

A Lopez family attorney says the 13-year-old has not been laid to rest because his parents have been waiting for his grandmother to arrive from Sonora, Mexico.

She arrived in California just in time to join them for the neighborhood event.